


Fate's Design

by Emerald_Desires (orphan_account)



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Death to Voldemort, F/M, Fate, First War with Voldemort, Fix-It, Marauders' Era, Meddling with time, Not for Snape lovers, Secrets, Soul Bond, Teen Hormones, Time Travel, Time Travel Fix-It, Well-Meaning Dumbledore, Werewolf Hermione, Werewolf Mates, Werewolves
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-28
Updated: 2016-02-19
Packaged: 2018-04-11 17:14:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 8
Words: 14,003
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4444943
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/Emerald_Desires
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Hermione gets bitten by Remus on a full moon, Fate intervenes. Sent on a mission by Fate herself, Hermione is dropped into the Marauders Era with only a trunk, her knowledge of the future and a get out of jail free card. Or something like that. </p><p>Add in being technically married to Remus Lupin by Magic herself, trying to save the world while doing her Runes homework and a snarky Slytherin to drive her mental, Hermione has her work cut out for her.</p><p>(Formerly known as Rewriting the World)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Back in Time

**Author's Note:**

> This is a not-for-profit fanwork. All characters and places that you recognize are not mine, all rights belong to the copyright holders.

Her pulse thudded in her ears as numb feet tried to navigate the forest floor, her muscles burning in overexertion. She knew it was a moot point. She couldn’t get away. She could still feel the werewolf’s breath on her neck, even though she had managed to get some distance between them. 

 

Besides the obvious fear for herself, there was another overwhelming layer of fear deep inside of her. Fear for Remus. If he bit her, even though he had no control over it, he would be arrested and thrown in Azkaban. The law had been passed by the Wizengamot after the war because of the sheer amount of children bitten by Greyback and the other wolves aligned with Voldemort.

 

To be honest, she had entirely forgotten that the full moon was tonight but what about Remus? She knew he hadn’t forgotten to take the potion. Also, he shouldn’t have been able to bypass the protective wards around his room that he always put up. So what happened?

 

She shook the distracting thoughts from mind as she came to a small clearing. There was nowhere to hide. She sucked in a deep breath, eyes going wide as she heard the loud thumping of the werewolf’s paws hitting the ground. Oh shit, oh shit. Hermione grabbed her wand and prayed that she was outside the anti-apparition wards, spinning on her heel. 

 

The movement was aborted when something hard hit her from the side and she went flying, a ragged scream tearing itself from her throat.

 

Hermione hit the ground hard, feeling her arm break upon impact. She whimpered, her head swimming from a similarly nasty smack against the hard earth. The fire in her arm screamed out and she started to cry, big fat tears splashing down her cheeks. There were two ways this could go. Either Remus was going to change her or he was going to kill her. She honestly didn’t know which one she would prefer. 

 

The wolf towered over her, snarling. She fought another scream when its broad tongue licked the blood from her forehead. The lupine creature threw its head back and howled, the sound reverberating through her very core. 

 

She squeezed her eyes shut. Her wand was too far out of reach, she had no chance of fighting back. She waited. Thirty seconds. A minute. She slowly opened her eyes in confusion, only to see the wolf watching her carefully. If it weren’t for the crippling fear and the heavy paw pinning her down, she probably would have laughed. The look was so much like Remus’ usual expression it was almost startling. 

 

Her breath caught in her throat as the warm nose nudged up the hem of her cotton shirt, pushing it up past her bellybutton. She tried to recall whether this was typical wolf behavior but her brain was throbbing, rioting against every thought she had.

 

Hermione flinched as it sniffed at her skin and a warm tongue swiped over her left hipbone. The wolf gave out a small whine. Then, without warning, sharp teeth sunk into the place that had been recently licked. 

 

A blood curdling scream broke free from her throat as she kicked out, her good arm shoving uselessly at the wolf. There was her question answered. She’d rather be dead.

 

It felt as though a thousand knives were slicing at her skin and the wolf’s teeth sunk in deeper, liquid flame making its way through her veins. Her scream continued until her throat was raw and the wolf licked the bloody bite once more with another whine before turning away. 

 

The sandy fur reflected the moon light as it curled up in a ball a few feet away, head up as if guarding her. Hermione tried to sit up to reach for her wand but nearly passed out from the pain as it reared worse the ever. She sobbed, her matted hair sticking to her bloodied face. 

 

When would she be found? Would she be here until Professor Lupin changed back? Probably. They were extremely far into the Forbidden Forest. No one would come looking for her here. Her broken arm twanged painfully, but it had nothing on the bite. She felt herself losing conscience blissfully after nearly an hour had passed, finally getting a reprieve from the pain.

 

***

 

The room was blinding white. The first thing Hermione noticed is that she could stand up. She pulled up her blood soaked shirt and looked at the bite. It was still open and bleeding but the pain was numbed as if being blocked from her mind. Was this what shock felt like? 

 

Her arm seemed fine as well. She experimentally moved it out in front of her and made a fist, but there was no pain. 

 

She looked around and only then noticed the figure sitting on a white metal bench across the seemingly endless white space. She remained silent as she walked towards the figure, holding her breath. 

 

“Hello?” Hermione murmured as she drew closer. 

 

At first it seemed as though the woman was not going to respond. But then, softly, she heard her speak. “Come, child. Stand before me.”

 

Hermione frowned but very slowly did as she was told. When she stood in front of the bench, the figure reached up and took off the opaque gold veil covering her face. Hermione gasped.

 

The woman had long hair that seemed to hover somewhere between blue and black, contrasting wildly with her pale white skin. The most astonishing part was perhaps the shimmering translucent teal scales that were spread out over half her face. Her lips were the deep red of blood and her eyes were pure white. No irises or pupils disrupted the white, but they glowed like freshly fallen snow in the sun.

 

A sweet sounding chuckle came from the woman, creature, whatever she was. Hermione eyed her warily, mouth dry. 

 

“Hello, child. I was not supposed to meet you for many years yet. But…” suddenly an angry look shadowed her face and Hermione instinctively flinched back.  
“My sister messed with my tapestry. She changed things. So many things. She altered my timeline and too many people’s stories ended too fast.”

 

Hermione listened curiously, though remained on guard. “I’m sorry but… who are you? What are you talking about?”

 

The woman looked directly at her with her strange eyes and Hermione shivered. “My name is not of importance, but your kind call me Fate.”

 

Hermione sucked in a breath. She was speaking to Fate herself? Her body thrummed with excitement and her nature begged for her to ask all the questions thrumming through her head. But she resisted and only asked one. “It’s wonderful to meet you Lady Fate. But…” She bit her bottom lip lightly and swallowed her confusion, “Why am I here?”

 

“I need you to fix the events my sister has caused. I need you to change it all, the fix the original path of things. Tonight you were bitten by the werewolf Remus Lupin. Now, you have the choice to refuse my offer. To remain where you are now. But, instead I could send you backwards to the beginning of the change. You could befriend Harry’s parents and change what happens to them.”

 

“James and Lily Potter were never meant to die so young. Sirius Black never should have ended up in Azkaban and Harry never should have had to face Voldemort at all. My sister ruined everything by adding that prophecy to the timeline and I can’t undo it myself. What you need to know is that if I drop you back into the time you came from, come morning Remus will be wracked with guilt and will turn himself into the Ministry. “

 

“He will go to Azkaban and you will have to learn to live with Lycanthropy alone.” Fates face softened minutely and she caressed Hermione’s cheek. Her fingers were cold to the touch and sent tremors throughout Hermione’s body. 

 

“But if you go back… everything can change. You can destroy Voldemort. Or at least help do so. You can meet a younger Remus, one who is the same in age as yourself, and he can eventually help you through it. If you go back, try not to resent him. When the curse gets hard, don’t blame him. You know he never would have intentionally bitten you.”

 

Hermione nodded mutely, licking her lips. Her mind raced. She could change everything. But she was also curious what Fate knew about the bite. 

 

“That bite is special. It means you’re a mated pair. I myself saw your souls reach out for each other as soon as you joined the world. Remus in wolf form recognized you as his mate, and he gave you the mating bite. When you go back you will not be able to hide your true identity for long. That map that those brilliant children of mine created will show you as Hermione Lupin. That mating bite essentially tied your souls together and officially you are bonded now in the eyes of my other sister, Magic.”

 

Hermione sat down on the bench and put her head in her hands. She was wolf married to Remus? That was… wow. Alright. She could figure it out. But she was undecided between the past and her current life. 

 

She didn’t want to have to defeat Voldemort again. The war was over and she wanted a peaceful life. But she couldn’t have that. Not now. She also couldn’t bear to see Remus thrown in Azkaban if she remained. She hardened her resolve and gave a small nod of the head.

 

“I’ll do it. But will you help me? I don’t know if I can… I don’t know what to do once I get there.”

 

Fate smiled gently at her. “My child, I will give you what you need for your mission. By doing this you are granting me a great service. I will forever be in your debt if you can fix this for me. Now, I have a gift for you. A get out of jail free card if you will.” 

 

Fate reached forward a pressed a cold hand to Hermione’s chest. There was warmth accompanied by a flash of white light and Hermione gasped at the sensation. “What was that?”

 

“You’ll know when it matters most. Now…” Fate held a glowing hand out towards the ground and a deep blue trunk appeared out of thin air. “Inside here are things you will need to create a convincing back story. When you have decided on your cover, the papers and documents in there will change to fit your tale. We can’t have a paradox; we can’t have two of you in the world at one time. I’m afraid to make this work on September 19th 1979 Jean Granger will give birth to a stillborn baby girl.”

 

Hermione’s face fell and she sighed. She should have expected that. Paradox creation could be disastrous.

 

“You must not tell Albus Dumbledore of this. He cannot know when you are from. That would ruin everything. I know that you trust him and he is not a bad man, but unfortunately he can’t be trusted with this. Now my girl, thank you. I’m running out of time. You must go now.”

 

And just like that, Hermione collapsed. 

 

*** 

 

James Potter and Sirius Black helped their friend into his bed, being careful not to press on his injuries sustained during the moon. James limped slightly, the deep gash on the back of his leg slowly knitting itself back together. 

 

The timing of the moon was good this month. Remus had all of today and tomorrow to recuperate and then it was off to Hogwarts for their final year. Since Remus’ parents were off on some kind of holiday, Remus had been staying with James and Sirius for the last two weeks. 

 

That had certainly made the night of the full moon much easier. 

 

With Remus already dozing off, James and Sirius went downstairs to play a quick one on one game of Quidditch. 

 

It wasn’t until the next morning that Remus awoke and they forced potions down his throat while he grumbled at them. Feeling much better Remus had joined them for breakfast and then a trip to Diagon Alley. Of course Remus was disgruntled that they had left it to the last day before term started but really, that was typical behavior for them.

 

They met Peter there and hung around for a while as the four boys grabbed the necessities and stared at the rest. Remus had to practically drag James away from the Quidditch supply store near four o’clock. 

 

They floo’d over to Hogsmeade once they had been to every store available in Diagon Alley and made the usual trip to Zonkos. It was only after they were starting to get tired and Peter had left for home did they decide to walk at the very edge of the forest that bordered Hogsmeade.

 

It was as they were walking through the edge of the trees that they heard her. 

 

The three boys stopped and exchanged looks as they heard muttered curses ahead of them. They quickened their pace and followed the sound until they found they source. There was a girl standing in a small clearing, cursing as she tried pulling twigs out of her hair. 

 

Remus took in the rest of her with an expression of shock. He must have made a sound because her head snapped upwards and looked directly towards them. She squinted and it soon became obvious that she couldn’t see them, though she had obviously realized they were there. 

 

Her cotton shirt was soaked with blood over her left side, knee length skirt ripped and dirty. She hissed and placed a hand over her side and Remus’ sensitive ears could hear her as she muttered, “Couldn’t just leave it numb when she dropped me off. Nope, just leave me bleeding and in pain.” 

 

She pulled something out of her pocket and dropped it to the ground before pulling her wand out. The object turned out to be a shrunken trunk, which quickly grew to its original size. She must have decided that the noises she heard were from animals, because she didn’t bother looking towards them again. 

 

Remus looked towards his friends, who were watching in confusion. “Why is she just standing in clearing covered in blood? This is reminding me way too much of that Muggle movie thing we saw last month.” This was James, who was curiously watching from behind a large evergreen tree. 

 

She bent down and began digging through the trunk until she pulled out a small wooden box. She opened it and pulled out a little glass tub full of purple paste. She rubbed some onto the cuts on her arms after vanishing the grime and repairing her clothes, leaving her looking much healthier than she had before. 

 

Sirius looked over at the other two. “I’m going to go over there and see why she’s here. No girl can resist dogs.” He winked at them cheekily and shifted into Padfoot, before slowly walking out of the trees.

 

Remus hissed at him, trying to get him to come back. Who knew if this girl was dangerous or not?

 

It was too late. Sirius let out a happy bark and wagged his tail, padding over to the girl. 

 

Her reaction however was the truly strange part.

 

Her whole face paled and her wide eyes locked onto his idiot friend. He noticed her tremor before she shrunk her trunk, picked it up and bolted the other way as fast as her legs would carry her. 

 

Instead her legs wobbled after maybe twenty meters and she collapsed, a pain filled moan escaping as she clutched her side. She stumbled to her feet again before quickly disapparating with a grimace, leaving three dumbfounded boys behind. 

 

“What the hell?”


	2. Tested

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading the first chapter! Here's the second one and I'm already working on the third. Keep in mind that this is not beta read. If you would be willing to be my beta, please let me know! It would be much appreciated.
> 
> Please let me know what you think. Should I continue to switch between Remus and Hermione within the chapters or do like a Hermione chapter and then a Remus chapter next? I don't know. 
> 
> Also, if you notice mistakes let me know and I'll fix them. This story only has a basic plot so if there is something you'd like included (be it a scene, a phrase or anything at all) let me know! I'd love to read your ideas and include some of them into the story.

Despite knowing that what she was doing would hopefully save allot of people, Hermione was entirely frustrated with her mission. She’d barely been in the past for five hours and already she had met a familiar face, almost gave herself away and found out that she was unable to heal the bite wound.

She would recognize Sirius’ Animagus form anywhere. Despite the years that had passed since the last time she saw it, her memory was clear. Running into him only minutes after being dropped in that field had to be some kind of retribution for something she had done. 

At the time her only thought had been to flee. She had apparated away without thinking about it clearly and found herself in Diagon Alley. She was just counting herself bloody lucky she hadn't clinched herself. Over a drink in the Leaky Cauldron she had requested a meeting with Dumbledore and received a response by the time she had turned into her rented room for the night. 

The next morning she had once again tried to use her usual healing spells on the inflamed bite wound to no effect. Even dittany just burned and smoked, but the bite remained the same. She sighed and cleaned it out the Muggle way, transfiguring a facecloth into rolled bandage. She changed the second cloth into a gauze pad and wrapped up the wound, making sure it was bound tight enough to staunch any unwanted bleeding. 

When she was dressed in a modest black skirt, red camisole and a black jacket she slipped on her flats from the day before and made her way downstairs. She ate breakfast and thanked Tom for the room, sticking her shrunken trunk into her bag before apparating to the ward line that protected Hogwarts. 

Hermione walked slowly, trying not to let her memories of the night before cause her panic. She had her story all worked out. She just hoped she could convince Dumbledore. 

She took a calming breath as she glanced around, spotting McGonagall standing at the entrance to the school. She walked up to the woman and put on her fakery puzzled expression. “Would you be Professor McGonagall? I am supposed to be meeting with Headmaster Dumbledore today. He said that you would be here to lead me to his office.”

Her old teacher nodded once at her words, shook her hand and then turned around to lead the way without a word. With an internal sigh she followed the familiar path, glancing around the castle. After the war quite a bit of the castle had to be rebuilt and she had missed the castle in this state dearly. 

They finally arrived and McGonagall gave her the password before departing, leaving Hermione to descend the stairs. She knocked on the door with three small taps before entering, sagging slightly at the sight of the Headmaster. Despite his faults Hermione had quite missed his presence after his death and relaxed herself at the sight of him. 

She knew she couldn’t tell him the truth, that had been made clear by Lady Fate, but she still trusted him with her secret. Turning her acting skills up to their maximum she gave him a small, pained looking smile and sniffled as she sat down. 

~*~*~*

Although he seemed puzzled by her strong mental shields, Dumbledore had believed her story. He had smiled sympathetically when she told her contracted tale of her life being schooled at home. She had played the part of a half-blood convincingly, telling him of her French Pureblooded mother and British Muggleborn father. 

When she had nearly reached the end of her story she thought of the faces of the dead from the war to bring tears to her eyes. 

“I don’t remember much. I heard screams and went downstairs… now my parents are gone and our house elf (She had trouble even pretending to own a house elf. The words felt like sand in her mouth.) cannot sense them anymore. The only way for that is…is…” She thought of Fred to cause an upheaval in her emotions and choked out a sob, covering her face. “Ah, I’m sorry. I haven’t even gone to the Aurors. My family doesn’t… didn’t put much trust in the British ministry anymore. Minka told me my parents were no longer al-alive, that she could feel the shattered ownership bond between them. After she told me I ran out into the woods-“

She had bitten her lip and said that all she remembered after her walk was lupine eyes and searing pain before passing out. “I’ve been bitten. I looked up the bite after writing you and I’ve positively identified it as a bite from a lycanthrope. I’m afraid, sir. My family is gone, I’ve been infected by a werewolf, I’m scared to trust the Ministry and I don’t feel safe anywhere.”

Dumbledore had offered her protection as a student of Hogwarts and she had thanked him with tears in her eyes, wiping them with her sleeve. He had asked if she had money for supplies and told her when she handed him her moneybag that he would get a member of staff to collect her supplies for her and have an elf deliver them to her dorm later that night.

*~*~*~*

James dashed back into his compartment, cheeks flushed from exertion. “Did I ever tell you that Evans is beautiful when she is angry?” He had a stupid smile on his face as he recounted their Head Boy and Girl meeting as Remus ignored his friends in favor of changing into his robes.

They were almost at the castle and the beautiful weather was making the trip even better. Peter and Sirius were playing exploding snap like they had been the last half an hour and Remus’ book called him back. He sat back down and pulled it into his lap, eyes searching the page to find his previous spot.

When they arrived at the Great Hall almost an hour later the heavy amounts of chattering lifted Remus’ already good mood and he sat down at the table, licking his lips. He watched as the first years were led into the hall in a straight line and frowned when his eyes reached the end of the line. A student much taller and obviously older than the other was at the end, but their face was obscured by the shadows. 

McGonagall called the first years one by one up to be sorted and Remus clapped when he should, not really paying too much attention. 

“Vane, Rory.” “Hufflepuff!” 

“Brown, Eric.” “Gryffindor!”

“Bones, Secilia.” “Hufflepuff”

And on it went. 

Finally the only figure left in the sidelines was the figure that had earlier caught his attention. Remus focused back on the sorting as McGonagall announced that they had a bit of a different sorting than usual. 

“Granger, Hermione.” The figure walked slowly forward, looking vaguely pained. Remus gasped and heard Sirius do the same. It was the girl from the forest the other day! It was unmistakably her, though her wild mane of curls was somewhat tamed and held back in a ponytail now. Her eyes locked on his and he felt his magic surge in his core. 

What the hell was that?

The hat stayed on the girl for the longest he’d ever seen. Two minutes passed and she was frowning. Her hand subconsciously found the same spot she had clutched yesterday. Finally the brim of the hat opened wide and shouted the much waited for verdict.

“GRYFFINDOR!”

Confused but loud applause exploded from the lions after a moment and she walked to the table, sitting in the only open section near the end where Remus sat with his friends. All four of them stared at her and she narrowed her eyes back at them. He noticed her eyes grew sad when she glanced at James and frowned but she shook her head and tilted her chin upwards as she glanced away from all of them.

She didn’t eat much at all. The girl spent the entire feast pushing her food around her plate and scribbling in a small leather bound book with one of the Muggle pens his mother sometimes had laying around the house.

She completely ignored anything they asked her about why she was being sorted so late and saw her tense up and flinch when Sirius grabbed her arm. She was one of the first to follow when the prefect led the first years back to the dorm, clutching the book to her chest. He saw her disappear up the girls staircase as soon as he returned to the common room with his friends, her hair halfway falling out of her ponytail. 

He lay in his bed later that night, barely partaking in the conversation around him as his mind focused on the strange, beautiful girl. His mind was whirring. Why had she been in the forest that day, bleeding and dirty? She had fled from Sirius in Padfoot form (perhaps a fear of dogs?) and now she was here at Hogwarts, mysterious and silent, watching them as though they intrigued her. 

Who was this Hermione Granger?

*~*~*~*

Hermione lay awake as well, ignoring the chatter coming from the other beds. The other girls thought she was asleep and were taking the time to discuss the mysterious new girl. 

A quick look at one of the books on Lycanthropy revealed that the only way to heal a werewolf bite other than letting it heal by itself was the saliva of a werewolf who had been changed for at least a year’s worth of lunar cycles. 

Obviously she couldn’t just go up to Remus Lupin and ask him for a vial of saliva, so that left letting it heal naturally, something she wasn’t looking forward too. Dumbledore had informed her that another werewolf attended classes here and he assured her that there was a safe place to transform every month. 

He suggested that he could inform Remus of her condition and that perhaps if he felt comfortable with it that he could explain some things about lycanthropy to her but she had quickly refused. She wasn’t ready to talk to Remus yet. 

Currently however, she thought of the map stashed in her pillowcase. She had quickly remembered what Fate had told her about the Marauders Map. She wouldn’t show up as Hermione Granger, her last name was technically Lupin because of the bond. That would raise too many questions, so she had nicked the map from Pettigrew when he had been absorbed in his food. 

She knew they would suspect her eventually since she had been sat next to the pudgy boy, but they wouldn’t figure that out for a while still. She wasn’t sure whether or not she wanted to tell James, Sirius and Remus her story anytime soon. But they had to know part of it, because in just under a month she would be transforming in the Shrieking Shack. 

She had a month maximum before they would know. She sniffled, fighting back tears. Until now she had rejected the meaning of the bite and the thoughts of what was to come. Remus had once explained the pain of the transformation but the haunted look on his face now swam through her mind. She wouldn’t lie- inside she felt like a child who was afraid to look in the closet. She was terrified. 

She let a few tears escape and put up silencing wards around her bed. The last thing she needed was to wake up her new roomates with screaming if she had nightmares again tonight. That would start gossip all over the school that she really didn’t need.

When she had finally lessened the raging emotions within her with a good cry she slowly drifted off into an uneasy sleep. 

She dreamt of the forest again that night. 

*~*~*~*

Three weeks passed far too quickly. The bite was scabbed over but seemed to be healing at an astonishingly slow rate and with the full moon looming ever closer she felt herself on edge constantly. She knew that the Marauders were suspicious of her. They had been hanging out with a werewolf for years now and they knew the signs. It almost seemed as though they were testing her today.

It had started yesterday. She had been sitting in her usual spot at breakfast and when Sirius had taken Pettigrew’s spot beside her she thought nothing of it. He had been shamelessly flirting with her since her arrival despite her avoidance of him and that morning had been no different. 

He had been trying to have a conversation with her, despite it being rather one-sided, but then Gregory McDorin had leaned across her to ask Sirius a question about Transfiguration and she had gone pale as she tried to restrain her nausea. 

His body odor had been so overpoweringly strong and had burned her nose, her stomach churning. James had watched her curiously as she had practically stopped breathing until Greg had leaned away. The look made her feel like she was being x-rayed. She simply grabbed the bacon off her plate along with a slice of toast, wrapped it in a napkin and fled the hall. 

Hermione was seated next to James in Transfiguration and she had tried to ignore the eyes burning into the side of her head all throughout class. She answered almost every question and took notes diligently, but her head was pounding and for the first time in her life she wished she didn't have to attend classes. She rubbed her temple idly for while, popping the joints in her neck as they seized up. 

Today they seemed to be testing their theories out. At breakfast, Sirius had been wearing heavy cologne and kept leaning into her by ‘accident’, James watching her as she struggled not to react to the intense scent. James had offered her some kind of horrible food (it had looked a bit like a cookie, but the scent was similar to what she imagined soya sauce mixed with spoiled ham would smell like) and her answer was strained as acid rose up in her throat.

Now, as she sat in the common room studying with Lily (who was in her Arithmancy and Ancient Runes classes along with Remus) they seemed to be testing her patience. When the charmed paper airplane smacked her in the back of the head for the eleventh time in a row she snapped. Her hair sparked with magic as she spun to glare at them and Peter shrunk back into the couch. James and Sirius even looked a bit nervous. 

However, her voice was what seemed to shock them most.

“If you know what’s good for you, you’ll stop that. Now.” 

Her voice was practically a snarl. Even Lily looked surprised but joined her in glaring at James for disrupting their discussion. Realizing that her lapse in control had probably proven whatever theory they had she forced the anger down, avoiding Remus’ probing stare as she sighed and massaged the bridge of her nose.

She needed to convince them that she was just stressed. At least for now. She didn't know why she was trying so hard to hide it, but she just... couldn't admit to what was happening. Admitting it would just make it too real right now.

“Sorry. I’m just having a stressful week. Just bother someone else right now, please?” She practically begged, wincing as her skull throbbed. IF this was what the symptoms felt like five days before the moon, how bad was it going to get before her first transformation? Was it always like this or was it new? 

She gave them a falsely timid smile and internally grimaced as she cracked her knuckles. They still looked suspicious but went back to their own business and she sighed in relief. 

This was going to be harder than she thought.


	3. Moonrise

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, you guys are so kind with all your lovely reviews. Thank you to everyone who has given me kudos as well, it really makes me want to update quicker. Now, onto the chapter. I don't feel great about this but I couldn't write it again. I wrote the reveal six times before this ending and I still hate it. But whatever, that's not important. 
> 
> Reminder that this story is still unbeta'd so feel free to point of any mistakes that you notice. Also, let me know if you have any ideas. I'd love to incorporate them.
> 
> Disclaimer - I do not own anything that you recognize in this fic. All rights to their respective owners.

The day of the full moon was quite possibly one of the worst things she had experienced in recent memory. After her mistake a few days ago, she had gone back to pretending that she was fine around the Marauders. 

She had woken up this morning and instantly wished she hadn’t. She was feeling pain in places that she had not previously known pain could be felt. She would almost be willing to swear that even her hair follicles hurt.

The Marauder’s had apparently lost interest in her however, so apparently her act held up. Once or twice she had caught Remus staring at her curiously, but whenever she caught him he looked awkward and trained his gaze anywhere else. 

As she sat at breakfast she felt like puking rather than eating. She nibbled on a single sausage for a while before shaking her head and (forgetting her act) burying her face in her hands and groaning.  
Her stomach churned and her temples throbbed. Lily had kindly offered to take her to Madame Pomfrey but she knew that nothing would help her right now. Her only hope that maybe she would become desensitized to it after a while was Remus. 

He was pale and drawn looking as well, but he was able to get some food down and didn’t seem to be having problems with the light.

She clenched her jaw and moved to stand up, however it was too fast for her protesting badly. Halfway into a standing position her back locked up and she whimpered, unable to move. She took a few deep breaths and forced it to straighten with a series of loud cracks.  
She felt eyes on her back as she practically limped out of the great hall, practically begging for some form of release from the pain. 

Speaking of release, one specific symptom was quite probably going to drive her insane. She could barely stand being near any guys right now without feeling the urge to pounce on them. 

It was so bad that she had left her usual spot and moved to sit between Lily and Mary McDonald after two breakfasts straight of feeling so desperate that even /Peter/ made her skin crawl with need in too close a vicinity. 

As she made her way to Ancient Runes she absentmindedly rubbed at her arm, groaning under her breath as her calf muscles threatened to seize with every step. She was so absorbed in her thoughts of what was to come later that night that she didn’t notice the person turning the corner until she slammed into them.

His scent was the first thing that registered in her mind and she practically purred in pleasure. The scent was like thunderstorms, with something else tantalizingly dark settled on his skin. 

At first she thought it was Sirius but as she got over the shock of it she realized that boys face was less angular, softer somehow. However the look in his eyes was a mixture of irritation and arrogance that looked much colder than Sirius’ mischievous silver eyes.

She moved to offer an apology but he beat her to it, holding a hand out to silence her. Her temper flared and she bristled at the dismissal with an affronted expression. He merely laughed condescendingly, but it sounded false. Hollow. 

Just then Remus turned the corner and the boy, Regulus obviously, turned the corner once more and fled back the way he’d come. Hermione pointedly avoided Remus as she entered the class she shared with him, sitting down in the dimmest corner table available to hide from the light waging war on her eyes.

Despite seemingly unaffected by it earlier Remus seemed to have the same idea and sat directly across the aisle from her. 

Hermione stiffened. 

His smell. Oh Merlin. If she had thought that Regulus smelled delicious, she now knew that he had nothing on the other werewolf. The smell of the library clung to him, mixed with something similar to chocolate. A thick, heady scent that she couldn’t place topped it off and her mouth watered.

She shivered, though she was far from cold. Quite the opposite, heat flared through her core and she squeezed her eyes shut. 

Her eyes snapped to him and she saw that his hands were clenched into tight fists on the tabletop. Her eyes travelled over his figure and stopped once more on his hands. They were pale with long thin fingers, a few scars littered across the smooth skin. 

A light gasp fell from her lips as a rather vivid image of those hands on her body imprinted on her mind and when his eyes flitted over to her she found her breath catching in her throat. The colour of his eyes was practically obscured by his wide blown pupils and his clenched jaw made her swallow.

She couldn’t move her eyes away from him, even as a dark red blush colored her pale cheeks. He seemed to be having a similar issue- that is until a swarm of students came through the door. Hermione jolted, tearing her wide eyes away and focusing them towards the front of the room.

The rest of the lesson was torture. She couldn’t get his intoxicating smell out of her nose and it was utterly maddening. She was just lucky that she had already done half the course because she was barely managing to hear a word the professor was saying. 

Lily kept shooting her concerned looks from a few seats down, the Hufflepuff who shared her table remaining silent as she diligently scribbled notes.

Hermione couldn’t wait to escape.

*~*~*~*~*

The only way that Remus could describe his current situation was punishment. For what exactly he wasn’t sure, but it had to be some sort of cosmic payback for some wrongdoing of his in the past.

The pre-moon symptoms were worse than they had been in a while. Sirius, being the great friend he was, had worked out some of the really bad kinks in his shoulders this morning and he had felt much better for a while.

But a massage couldn’t get rid of this problem. Rose oil and oranges floated around him, filling his head and making him practically dizzy with desire. 

He shifted uncomfortably, the evidence of his arousal luckily hidden by his oversized robes. Sure his sexual appetite was always heightened the last few days before his transformation, but he wasn’t sure it had ever been this bad before. 

Normally he could ignore it for the most part, but he couldn’t force his mind away from the image of her heaving chest and flushed cheeks. He dug the tips of his fingers sharply into his face and winced at the feeling, though it succeeded in bringing his mind back to the present.

He was all too happy to flee at the end of class and spent the rest of the day struggling in a haze of sexual frustration and sore muscles. 

After dinner he was preparing to leave the hall when McGonagall pulled him aside and informed him that she would be the one leading him to the tree tonight. She looked as though she wished to say something else but then shook her head and walked away, leaving without another word. 

His sensitive ears picked up on another conversation just a few meters away. 

“Lily, I’m fine. I promise.” He glanced towards the two girls. Hermione’s face was tired, a fake smile plastered on her lips. “I’m going to head to the hospital wing soon. I just… I don’t know. I feel sort of sick. Madame Pomfrey will fix me up and I’ll be back in the morning to help you with the Runes assignment.”

Lily looked disgruntled but nodded shortly and gently patted Hermione’s shoulder before chasing the rest of her friends out of the hall. 

He saw the small brunette practically deflate as she relaxed. Then she breathed in and her eyes met his. 

The look in her eyes startled him. She looked terrified of him. He swallowed as she stared at him, his breath catching in his throat. 

Why was she looking at him like that?

The fear changed and slowly morphed into disgust and then fury. Suddenly she spun on her heel and stormed off, leaving a pale Remus behind. 

“What’s wrong, Moony?” Sirius frowned at him, clearly having missed the entire ordeal from a moment before. Remus let out a shaky breath. 

“I think she knows.”

*~*~*~*~*

Hermione hated herself in that moment. For a second she had actually felt fear when looking at Remus. Fear and fury towards him, allowing that part of her that she denied immensely, the part that held grudges and blame to pin her ordeal on him. 

Hadn’t she sworn, both to herself and Lady Fate that she wasn’t going to blame Remus? It wasn’t his fault. He hadn’t done anything yet. She didn’t even blame future Remus. 

She had felt such disgust with herself when she realized the direction of her thoughts and now she took a deep breath as she changed her clothing. She knew that she would have to remove her clothing tonight in the shack.

That thought didn’t embarrass her surprisingly. 

The fear was so much more overwhelming. Lurking under her skin and whispering softly in her mind. She had already sent herself into two panic attacks thinking about the first transformation. 

Her hands shook violently as she packed a few potions into a small moleskin bag with her favourite extension charm on it. She also added a clean set of robes and Harry’s invisibility cloak to the bag with a small canteen of water. 

Harry had lent her the cloak in her future when she had gone back to Hogwarts. He said he wouldn't need it for a while. Which meant that right now two of the same cloak existed in this time. Fate had made sure that her most prized possessions had been brought along with her and that apparently meant the cloak as well. It would certainly be useful.

Weak legs carried her downstairs and she saw the Marauders, including a tense looking Remus, sitting on one of the plush couches. 

Startled eyes shot to her and she noticed that all of their expressions ranged from protectiveness to nerves or fear. She didn’t say a word to them, avoiding their stares.  
“Where are you going this close to curfew?”

James’ voice, so much like his sons, cut through her fog. She glanced at them and nervously bit her lip. Remus caught her eye and she instantly stepped backwards, missing his devastated expression. Her voice trembled as she spoke. 

“I’m going for a walk. What’s it matter to you?” She struggled to keep her voice from being weak as she struggled to keep her hands still. 

“As Head Boy, it’s kind of my duty to assure all students are in their common rooms by curfew.”

Her temper flared, the shortness of her emotions raising their ugly heads.

She certainly hadn’t meant to say what she did but she couldn’t stop it. “That’s a bit rich coming from you lot isn’t it?” Her voice dripped with venom and they seemed to be ready to protest but she glared at them. “Truly, I think it’s best for everyone if you let me leave right now, your royal highness.” 

She practically snarled at them as she stormed out of the common room. She regretted the loss in control immediately. Being awful certainly wouldn't help her win over their trust to succeed in changing things. 

Her skin was itching and she felt the compulsion to rip at it with her sharp nails. She made her way quickly to where she was supposed to meet the matron. She couldn’t bring herself to look at the pitying look on the older woman’s face. She didn’t want to be pitied!

She was led to the tree and finally shook the woman off at the entrance. She crawled through the pathway, feeling as though she had travelled a long while before she finally reached the opening. 

Memories of third year flooded her mind and she repressed them insistently, nails biting into her palms as she paced around the decrepit shack. 

It was only ten minutes before she realized she had company coming. She could hear their voices as they reached the end of the tunnel. She straightened up and kept her gaze impassive as the four boys entered the shack. James and Sirius were still in their human forms but a fat grey rat sat idly on Sirius’ shoulders.

Unsurprisingly, Remus was the first one to notice her. Any colour he may have had left flooded from his face and his eyes became urgent. “What are you doing here? You need to leave! It’s not safe.”

Hermione gave a loud bitter laugh and stared them down as the others finally took notice of her. 

Her words came out dry and defeated in contrast. “Trust me; I well know the dangers of a werewolf on the full moon.”

Remus started at her blatant statement of the situation and she took pity on him and pulled off her button up shirt. Obviously she wasn’t going to just get naked in front of him, but a simple multiplying charm had supplied her with a few extra tank tops. The shirts would cease to exist in a few hours once the spell wore off, but for now it would do. It's not like she'd need them then. 

The button up was discarded to the bed, leaving her in only a loose pair of boy shorts and her tank. The boys looked at her with dropped jaws and confusion and she sighed in irritation. 

“You guys can sure be dim when you want to be.” She scoffed and pulled up the edge of her tank top to reveal the mostly healed bite wound. Remus’ eyes widened in understanding and she could hear his breath leave him in one exhale. 

The trembling in her hands got worse as a few silent minutes passed by. Remus was looking at her keenly, but then his attention seemed to fade as the moon began to rise. 

A single ray of moonlight slipped through the curtains and she whimpered in pain. 

Apparently her sound knocked some sense back into James and Sirius because within seconds they had shifted into their Animagus forms. 

The last thing she saw was Remus collapse to his knees before she felt a blood curdling scream tear itself from her throat. All of her fingers dislocated themselves and began to reshape as she collapsed and began weeping. 

Oh how it hurt!

Vaguely in the back of her mind she heard a dogs whimper and caught a sad look aimed at her. If dogs could look sad, anyways.

It hurt worse than the Cruciatus ever had and wasn't that something? Remus wearily dry sobbed and glanced at her as her scream rang through the otherwise silent room. She clutched handfuls of her hair and nearly ripped it out as her spine cracked and arched. She could feel her muscles tearing as her jaw broke and reformed into a snout.

After another torturous minute her broken sobs become a long, pain filled howl.


	4. Daybreak

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter. Same as last time, point out any mistakes you see and I'll fix them. Thank you for your feedback. This chapter is quite short ( About 800 words less than my other chapters) but I couldn't figure out where to go from there. 
> 
> Disclaimer - I don't not own Harry Potter or anything you recognize. If I did, I wouldn't be living in Saskatchewan in the middle of nowhere with a donkey and three Chihuahuas as pets.

When Hermione awoke the next morning it was to another bout of excruciating pain. A series of pain filled yelps soon turned into a human scream. It wasn’t quite as bad as the first shift, but it was still awful. 

Remus was lying on the floor a few feet from her and her heart ached when she saw the state he was in. Deep bloody scratches covered his chest and arms and what looked suspiciously like teeth marks were visible on his arms. Had she done that?

She panted to catch her breath, moaning in agony as the aftershocks of her second transformation rolled through her body. 

Finally she realized that James and Sirius were once again human and were awkwardly looking at her. She felt embarrassment burn through her. She was naked as the day she was born and now that the fear from the night before wasn’t there to overshadow the humiliation it hit her full force.

She struggled to sit up, breathing heavy as she fought through the pain the movement caused. The two boys had the decency to look away as she reached for her bag on the side table. 

As quick as she was able she pulled out the loose fitting robes she had packed and winced as she put them on. To save Remus his pride she tossed the extra set over his naked form as he finally began to move. 

She trembled and had to lean heavily against the wall, inspecting her arms. She had deep claw marks across her arms and she knew they would be elsewhere as well. She could tell by the burning pain in patches over her body. 

The events of the night before finally caught up with her and she felt her eyes well up with tears. She hugged her knees to her chest and hid her face, allowing them to fall. 

*~*~*~*~*

Remus fought not to scream while his body shifted back. When it was finally over he fought to catch his breath and felt some kind of fabric get thrown over his lower half.

For a moment he struggled to think past the exhaustion and it was only when he heard soft crying that he remembered the shock of last night. Hermione. The studious girl who had barely spoke to them more than three times was like him. Cursed.

If his memory of the bite mark was correct, it was fairly new. At most this had been her second transformation. He felt a pang of pity. He had been too young to remember his first transformation. He couldn’t even remember the first two years’ worth, but he could certainly imagine.

He finally uncurled his aching body, feeling the hard floor underneath him. He groaned, slowly forcing himself to sit up. James and Sirius were sitting on the moth eaten bed, looking tired and concerned. Peter had probably already left to get the teachers. 

Hermione however… The sight of her looking so frail as she sobbed into her arms made his chest ache. Something about the placement of her bite was nagging at the back of his mind as being important, but he was too tired to figure it out. 

He cleared his throat awkwardly. “Hermione?” He rasped, his voice rough from the entire ordeal. She startled at the sound of her name and he immediately felt guilty as his eyes met watery brown ones. 

Her entire body was trembling and he could see a cut trailing up the length of her neck from the edge of her robes. She had another gash on her temple, dried blood matted in her slightly bushy hair. 

He winced as his head throbbed, squeezing his eyes shut. 

He opened his eyes to see Hermione staring at him in concern, her own distress seemingly forgotten. 

He saw her reach for a small brown bag and she limped forwards. James looked like he was about to intervene but Remus stopped him with a look as his own mind raced with confusion. 

Hermione settled in front of him and he could see the pained look in her eyes. She reached into the bag and his eyes widened as her entire arm disappeared into the tiny thing. Must be magically extended. James was still standing, prepared for any situation.

She pulled out a small brown box triumphantly, her hand shaking as she opened the lid. 

“Stay still.” She whispered and he frowned but obeyed, eyes studying her carefully. She wetted a small cloth with a canteen of water and slowly reached forwards to wipe the blood off his face. The act caught him by surprise and she must have noticed because she softly explained. 

“I had a-“ She swallowed roughly, “A friend who used to sometimes let me help after the moon. He was much older than me, but he’d been suffering for at least thirty years and he had nobody left. Helping him used to make me feel useful when I was at my worst. This helps me feel normal. I always wanted to be a healer.”

Her voice turned wistful. “Of course, I doubt I’ll ever get a job as one now.” She sniffled and he remained silent as she cleaned him up. James and Sirius looked just as confused as him. 

After she had rinsed the cloth and done her own face she grabbed a small brown bottle from her bag. “This might hurt a bit, but it keeps the cuts from forming scars.” 

He frowned. He wasn’t aware of any potion like that. The ones Madame Pomfrey used closed the wounds but there were still scars afterwards. 

He screwed up his face as she applied the first drop to his revealed collarbone, hissing at the searing burn. She gave him an apologetic grimace before quickly treating the rest.

Finally she handed him a vial of potion. “Revitalizing Potion. It should give you enough energy to move on your own.” She sucked in a shaky breath as she moved back from him and began treating her own wounds. 

He hadn’t been able to see it in action on himself, but watched in amazement as her skin seemed to grow over the gashes within seconds, leaving nothing but unblemished skin behind. 

He sniffed the potion in his hand, unsure if it was safe to trust her. After a long moment of careful consideration he took it, shivering as it went down. It was very cold. Energy flowed through his limbs and the fog surrounding his mind receded somewhat. Sirius moved to help him off of the floor and he waved him off, managing to stand on his own. 

His legs were ready to give out after a few steps so he quickly collapsed on the edge of the bed and watched as Hermione stood. She moved to sit on the chair and leaned her head back against the wall. The silence was lightly awkward while they waited for assistance to get back to the castle.

The teachers were under the impression that his friends arrived every morning to help him with the after effects. He thought of how much he was betraying Dumbledore’s trust and winced as guilt flooded him. 

He couldn’t focus on that right now. 

His picked at the moth eaten cover before slipping on his own robes and silently passing the others back to Hermione. He didn’t quite know what to think of the situation. 

There was another werewolf at Hogwarts. Someone who he could, hopefully, talk to about the things that his friends couldn’t really understand. 

Another thing that ran fleetingly through his mind surprised him. He had never been in a proper relationship because of his condition, for fear of falling in love only to have them run screaming when they discovered his secret. But Hermione wasn’t going to run screaming. 

He’d noticed before now that she was quite beautiful. In fact, over the past month he’d been fascinated by just watching her in her everyday tasks. She made adorable faces when she was really concentrating on her work and had the tendency to take in the entire room around her when she entered as if searching for a threat. Her hair sparked when she was angry and she was extremely passionate in her classes. 

He felt his face flush and was drawn out of his thoughts as a tabby cat entered the room. Immediately in its place was Professor McGonagall, her eyes softening as she took in the state of two of her lions. She clucked her tongue and motioned for them to follow her. 

They finally arrived into the morning sun, the brilliant colors of sunrise casting the grounds in a pinkish glow. Remus breathed in fresh air as they started towards the castle. 

A long day of rest was in order.

*~*~*~*

When they were halfway to the hospital wing, Hermione had had to set aside her pride and ask Sirius for help. He had waggled his eyebrows at her but was very gentle as he took most of her weight, walking slowly to keep her pace. 

Finally lowering herself into the bed felt heavenly and she weakly thanked him as she relaxed into the pillows. Remus was in the next bed over, looking just as relaxed. She dutifully took the potions the mediwitch thrust at her and allowed them to work, sighing in relief as the residual pain faded.

An hour later when she tried to climb out the bed she was given a stern look. 

“I’m fine, really. I don’t want to miss class. If anything will help me feel better, it’s attending my lessons.”

It took nearly twenty minutes of arguing before Hermione shot Remus a tiny smile and made her way out of the room. If people noticed that both her and Remus were gone on the same day every month they would start to ask questions. 

Besides, she could manage it. It was just classes. 

*~*~*~*

By the time her last class ended, Hermione knew she had been so terribly wrong. She had almost fallen asleep three times, feeling lethargic and sore as the potions wore off. 

She had accidently added porcupine quills to her potion a step early and had ruined her perfect brewing streak with Slughorn. He had looked rather disappointed with her and it had irritated her to no end. 

She had given Lily an excuse after dinner to skip her homework before trudging upstairs and collapsing onto her bed. She put up her usual spells around her bed and closed her curtains, finally allowing herself to drift off into a uneasy sleep.


	5. The Deal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the lovely comments. This chapter is also only +1500 words or so because I didn't have much time. Let me know what you think and please point out any errors you see! Still in need of a beta reader. 
> 
> Disclaimer- I own no part of the Harry Potter world. All rights to their respective owners.

Remus and the other three boys had come to a silent agreement to leave the subject be for a while. Things had changed somewhat as well; Hermione seemed to appreciate the lack of questions they hadn’t bombarded her with and even apologized for her previous behavior towards them.

She had stopped avoiding them too. She sat near them at lunch every day and even had convinced Lily to join her, much to James’ excitement. 

There was one thing that was bothering Remus though. Hermione seemed to be extraordinarily uncomfortable around Peter. Today was no different. The Marauders made their way to breakfast, laughing as Sirius told them about his idea for the newest prank.

They sat at the table, where Lily and Hermione were already deep in conversation. That’s when Remus saw it again. Peter sat down next to Hermione and the girl frowned, her hand clenching around her fork in a vice grip. She was practically radiating discomfort. 

He cleared his throat to get her attention and received a strained smile in response. “Are you okay?” He asked her, raising an eyebrow. She seemed startled by the question and just sat silent for a moment before saying, “Sorry. Yeah. Just uh, lost in a memory that’s all.”

It was obviously a lie. Remus lost himself, wondering what the point of lying was.

Remus was drawn out of his musings when James noticed who had joined them again. 

“Hey Lilyflower!” James grinned stupidly, ruffling his hair and making it even messier than it usually was.

“Don’t call me that, Potter.”

“But-“

“No.”

Remus rolled his eyes but saw the corner of Lily’s mouth twitch as she fought back a smile. That was new. 

Breakfast passed quickly by and everyone chattered excitedly as they got ready to go to Hogsmeade.

Even Hermione, who was always quite serious, showed some childish excitement at the prospect. Remus smiled at her and felt pleased when she smiled back, before being drawn back into the argument currently going on between his friends. 

“-n’t care, Pete! We left it with you and you lost it! We spent an entire year making it.” He watched as Sirius pinched the bridge of his nose, huffing. 

The map had been missing since the beginning of the year after they had let Pete use it to instigate their beginning of the year prank. At first it had `just been a slight ‘oh shit’ moment, but it had been more than a month now. 

“Pads, mate, we’ve all lost it at one-“ James tried to stand up for Peter, but Sirius cut him off. “Yes we have, but we found it. Once he finds it I’ll stop nagging him.”

Remus rolled his eyes at the two of them and put his fork down on his empty plate as people started to flood from the hall. 

His friends continued to bicker as they made their way out of the hall, Remus tuning them out as he scanned the people around them. His attention was caught by unrestrained laughter and he glanced towards the sound only to see Hermione practically in tears as she laugh. Lily was laughing too and Remus heard Hermione complain. “Stop saying that. I do not! I can’t- I can’t breathe.”

*~*~*~*~

Hermione clutched her stomach, trying to remember the last time she had laughed this hard. Lily was laughing as well, and for the first time Hermione realized that Harry got his smile from his mum. 

The thought helped quell her laughter as a pang of homesickness lodged in her gut, making her insides twist unpleasantly. 

She saw Remus look at her and gave him a small wave, smiling softly. Lily burst into fresh laughter. “Oh my god. You do! You look at him the same way James looks at me. You are totally besott-“ 

Hermione clamped her hand over Lily’s mouth and shushed her, glaring at the redhead. Lily licked her palm in retaliation and Hermione grimaced, wiping her hand on her pants. 

Hermione sighed and glanced at his retreating back. She was surprised how quickly she had become aware of his every move. 

He always seemed to linger in the back of her mind. She supposed this was mainly due to the bond, but she had to admit that Remus was downright breathtaking as a teenager. She had had a severe crush on him during her third year (and for a bit after that if she was honest with herself).

Now however… now there wasn’t a twenty year age gap between them.

Wait! She wasn’t actually considering this was she? Yes, Remus was her mate. But she had a job to do. Maybe after Voldemort was dead. But that could take years if things went wrong. It was going to be hard enough to do it alone, never mind having to lie to a boyfriend. 

She bit her lip and half listened to Lily chatter beside her, pausing. Perhaps she could enjoy it here? Fate had told her that she couldn’t lie to them forever. She had been stubborn, stealing the map to give herself more time. 

But did she want to? Perhaps she could get closer with them… once they trusted her she could tell them. She had enough proof hopefully to convince them. A small smile touched her lips as she hatched a plan. 

“Lily.” Her tone caught the redheads attention and she looked at her warily. 

“I have a deal for you.”

Lily raised an eyebrow, waiting for her to continue. 

“Today, I will ask Remus to hang out with me in Hogsmeade-“ Lily squealed and Hermione quickly finished the end of her sentence, “If, and only if, it’s a double date. You ask James.”

Lily protested loudly but the shade of red her face turned almost matched her hair.

“I can tell you like him. Even you’ve noticed that he’s not so bad when you’re alone. I’ve seen you stare at him at breakfast.”

Lily ducked her head, creating a curtain of hair around her face. Hermione was rather proud of herself. Matchmaking hadn’t been part of the original plan, but this was good. 

Lily glared at her and pouted. “Fine. I’ll do it, but you’re asking Remus first. And-“ Lily seemed to be thinking intently, “By the end of the day, you have to kiss him on the cheek in front of me. And buy me something from Honeydukes. Deal?”

Hermione chuckled and shook her hand. “Deal. Now come on, they’ll disappear before we can ask them.” Hermione looked around the entrance hall and spotted them standing with Peter off to the side. 

Hermione grabbed Lily’s arm and led her towards them, quelling her nerves quickly. This wasn’t her fourth year again. She had dated Viktor, Ron, Seamus and Dane from her Muggle neighborhood back home. She could ask someone to Hogsmeade. 

She noticed it once the three had noticed them approaching. James shuffled his feet and messed up his hair and Hermione smirked slightly. She shoved her shaking hands into her pockets, trying to keep her face free from nerves.

She stopped in front of the three and tried to form words. She only managed to speak once Lily’s elbow to the ribs snapped her out of it. 

“Uhm, Remus…” She started, biting her lip. “I was wondering if you’d come with me to Hogsmeade today on a double date with Lily.” Her cheeks blushed red and she was a little unnerved by the shocked look on his face. 

“Never mind, I’m sorry I’ll just-“ She turned around, preferably to flee and disappear for the rest of her life when a hand caught her arm. She slowly turned around to see Remus smile at her, making her cheeks darken even more. 

“Don’t be. I’d love to go with you. And who is Lily taking?” He glanced at his friend, who had deflated upon the news that Lily had a date today with slight concern. Peter was patting his arm sympathetically.

Lily turned even redder than her. “Well, actually…I uh- I wanted to…”

Hermione snickered, her own embarrassment forgotten as she took pity on her friend. 

“What Lily is trying to ask is- James, will you accompany her to Hogsmeade?”

James’ head shot up and Hermione couldn’t keep her laugh away at the bewildered expression on his face. His wide eyed look was entirely too comical. Lily smacked her in the arm. 

“Yes, Pot- James...” She corrected and Hermione was positive James was literally going to explode with joy soon. “If you don’t already have plans-“ 

“Of course I don’t!” James grinned widely, showing off perfectly straight white teeth. The side of Hermione that took after her parent’s love of teeth was impressed. 

James was practically vibrating and looked like an overexcited puppy. 

“Well meet you at the Three Broomsticks in an hour, okay?” Hermione quickly waved goodbye and dragged Lily up the stairs. 

The last thing she heard as they reached the top of the stairs was James’ voice loudly declaring:

“IT’S FINALLY HAPPENED, MOONY! I’M GOING ON A DATE WITH LILY EVANS!”


	6. Hello...

Hey guys. I'm sorry ahead of time for getting your hopes up. This is not an update. This is a note. There's no excuse for just up and disappearing without at least telling you why, but here it is. 

 

A really close friend of mine, practically family, committed suicide about two weeks after I posted the last chapter. I've been struggling a lot with her death, wondering if there was something I could have said or done, if I could have paid more attention to her and noticed that something was wrong. But it's too late for that now. She is gone and I've been feeling for the past going on two months like I failed her.

 

I'm slowly moving on, slowly allowing myself to belive that there was nothing I could have done. I'm going to update a new chapter within a couple days, bit with my grief and ever growing pile of work to do for school I can't guarantee that my schedule will be on time constantly. Thanks to those who stuck with me through this long absence. I really appreciate it.


	7. Hogsmeade (I'm back)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys. Wow, long wait. I know it's entirely unfair how long this took but I just... I couldn't get myself to write. Over ther past few months multiple times I have sat down, stared at my computer, written a few paragraphs and deleted it. I'm still not happy with this, but it's an update and I hope it's not terrible. I'm going to try to be more consistent and get back into this story, so lets hope everything works out and my muse doesn't completely abandon me again. Thank you for all the lovely supportive comments you left on my update, it was greatly appreciated and really did help me. 
> 
> Thank you for sticking with me, lovelies. You really are the best audience I could ask for.

Hermione sighed and stretched out her back as she looked at herself in the mirror. She didn’t know whether she looked good or terrible. Obviously, she thought it was nice, but would he? And why did she care so much? It had never been like this with Ron. She didn’t spend twenty minutes in front of the mirror, worrying about her appearance for Ronald’s sake.

She huffed and admonished herself for being silly, casting a quick charm on her hair to smooth it out as best as even magic could manage. Remus, unless vastly different from his future counterpart, was not one to dwell entirely on looks alone. She slipped on a soft grey cardigan, pairing it with her navy skirt and white button up shirt. She tugged on a pair of grey knit tights underneath her skirt on a second thought, remembering that it was probably rather chilly out now as it moved later into the year.

She tucked her wand into the wand holster that Harry had given her for her birthday, forcing back the slew of memories at the sight of it. Merlin, she still missed her time so much. As one of her roommates, a blonde witch named Alena, entered the room she wrinkled her nose at the overpowering perfume that assaulted her sensitive nose.

She quickly slung her bag over her shoulder and headed down to the common room, meeting the waiting Lily before the two witches descended the stairs. Hermione only remembered the trick steps at the last second, too busy caught up in her own mind. She cursed lightly under her breath as she nearly got her foot stuck, finally making it down to where Remus and James were still waiting for them. Sirius had his arm around a pretty blonde witch wearing a Ravenclaw tie that Hermione didn’t recognize, but she gave him a half wave as he led the girl out through the dwindling line of students passing Filch.

Hermione gave Remus a shy smile and the group of four made their way into the line, James wrapping his arm around Lily’s waist. The redheaded girl looked highly uncomfortable for a minute and looked as though she was about to say something before catching Hermione’s eye and falling silent. James chattered on, too excited to notice his dates silence. Hermione found it to be quite endearing.

Remus gave her a little amused smile and Hermione blushed to the roots of her hair, giving him a smile back. They passed by Filch, who was giving the marauders a highly distrusting look, and Hermione thought that James’ mischievous little smile and the smell of dung bombs wafting off the caretaker were a good enough explanation as to why. The air outside wasn’t as cold as she’d been expecting for October but it was not warm either and she found herself relieved that she’d worn the tights to spare her legs the tingling needles from the air that were stinging her face.

The walk to Hogsmeade was filled with the chatter of the students surrounding them, though her and Remus exchanged few words. She did understand, it was bound to be confusing for him to adjust to having someone else in on his secret, especially someone else who shared his secret in a way that even his best friends did not.

The second they arrived to the village, Remus and James both turned on them with pleading eyes as they backed towards Zonko’s. Hermione and Lily both giggled, the latter being too amused to keep up the disgruntled look she’d had the whole walk here. The girls told them they would meet them at Honeydukes when they were finished and so the two of them went off.

“You know Hermione, if I didn’t think I knew you better I’d say you bewitched me. How on earth you managed to convinced me to go on a date with James Potter of all people is beyond me.” Lily huffed, though she couldn’t hide the tiny half smile twitching on her lips.

Hermione rolled her eyes playfully and gave the redhead a significant look before leading the other girl into the sweet shop. Hermione smiled widely. Honeydukes hadn’t changed a bit in her time and the sight was comforting. The only differences were a few candies that more than likely had yet to be invented, and a few signs and packaging styles of the sweets.

Hermione headed straight for the sugar quills, a particular favourite of hers. She grabbed four or five and then headed over to the chocolate. She grabbed a single bar of Honeydukes finest, before carrying her purchase to the counter and paying.

When Lily arrived at the counter, Hermione had to stifle a laugh. Well, now she knew where Harry gotten his sweet tooth from. Lily had what looked like one of everything, and if this was any hint as to what Lily consumed Hermione felt even more jealous at Lily’s model like frame. Hermione raised an eyebrow and Lily shrugged, blushing slightly even as she brushed it off. She paid and then the two girls left the shop, waiting outside the doors for their dates. The thought of being on a date with Remus of all people still felt weird to her. After all, Remus had been her teacher, someone she admired greatly. And maybe once or twice she had ogled his bum, but that wasn’t the point here!

Hermione felt her own cheeks turn petal pink and she couldn’t blame it on the cold this time. Merlin, her own thoughts surprised her sometimes and she shifted slightly at the memory of the only time she’d seen Remus without a shirt on. Most people would have been distracted by his scars, but eighteen year old Hermione Granger first noticed the light chiseled lines of definition and the thin trail of sandy hair that led from his belly button down to his-

She coughed and went wide eyed as Remus’ voice suddenly filled her mind and blinked only for that memory to disappear and to see the real Remus, still young and happier than his older self had been, looking amused and waving his hand playfully in front of her face.  

“Earth to Hermione. You there?” He teased softly, though his eyes looked mildly concerned at the rapid change of colour her face had gone through.

Hermione squeaked in embarrassment and nodded, praying that what she’d just been thinking about wasn’t plastered all over her face right now.

Lily laughed, “She gets lost in thought like that all the time.” She chirped, sparing Hermione from giving any sort of half-truth explanation that would no doubt make her want to curl up in a ball and hide. Hermione gave her a grateful half smile and nodded in agreement at Lily’s words, not trusting her mouth to form words at this moment in time.

The quartet made their way into The Three Broomsticks, James leaving the other three to find a table as he went up the counter to order everyone a butterbeer. Hermione had managed to calm her embarrassment and raging hormones at this point and lapsed into a comfortable conversation with her two table mates about their mutual Ancient Runes class. It was nice to have friends she could discuss this sort of thing with for once. Not that she didn’t love Harry and Ron, of course she did, but being able to discuss classes with someone without them zoning out, falling asleep or making an excuse to leave was refreshing.

James came back after a few minutes, followed by a much younger Madame Rosmerta who looked as though she was just out of Hogwarts herself. She set their drinks down in front of them with a small smile and Hermione tuned it out as she talked to a few of them. However she instantly perked up when the woman’s tone changed, sounding more worried. “-attack here last night. Auror’s got it quickly patched up of course, hasn’t even made an appearance in the Prophet. Utter rubbish, that is.” She huffed. “Wearing masks they were, marched down the street, four of five of them. They were lined up and the one at the head of the group starts ordering them to perform certain curses, zaps them if they did it too slow. Like it was some kind of orientation.”

Hermione suddenly felt a heavy weight drop in her stomach like she’d swallowed a ball of lead. It was getting worse, people were starting to realize something was wrong. That meant she would have to work harder than ever to ensure that she managed her goal in order to save the largest amount of people that she could.

She was mostly quiet for the rest of the Hogsmeade trip, pitching in on the conversation every now and then so that nobody would grow suspicious of her silence. When they parted ways at the school, Hermione leaned up and gently kissed Remus’ cheek.

“Goodnight Remus.”


	8. Stress and Plans

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter for you. Let me know, do you think I ghost too quickly through the events in this story? If you want it to be more dragged out let me know so that I can change it. This is only around 1,200 words, so it's not an overtly long update but I wanted to give you another chapter because of the ridiculously long absence I had.

Remus stared at Hermione from across the table, humming a little as his eyebrows furrowed together. She had gone oddly quiet after Rosmerta had delivered their drinks and he wasn’t quite sure why, but as he thought back over what the witch had told them about the attack a little niggling grew in the back of his mind. He still didn’t know much about Hermione. He could tell by the change in her heartbeat that the majority of the things she had told them were half-truths at best and complete lies at worst. They knew nothing of her family, of her past, and it made them all a little on edge. There was a part of Remus that instinctively trusted her but he couldn’t quite figure out where that part was coming from or why it was there. Was it merely because she understood what he went through on a deeper level than his friends could? Or was it something else?

He sighed and took a sip of his butterbeer. It seemed as though the attack here so close to home had struck some kind of chord with Hermione. Did she perhaps know who the group was behind the attack? If so that made him even more nervous. She didn’t look sad or afraid; she had this… determined look to her face. She also looked vaguely sick, but the most prominent emotion on her face was one of barely concealed anger and that was the one that intrigued him the most.

Over the rest of the group conversation Remus made of a point of occasionally glancing over at the curly haired witch, drawing her into the conversation as best he could so she would stop wallowing in her own mind.

“Lily flower, I promise you won’t regret this.” James said, a stupidly happy yet earnest expression on his face.

Lily pursed her lips and shook her head even as she smiled a little and Remus felt happy for his friend that his object of admiration over the past five years had finally seemed to come around.

Remus tuned out their conversation and went back to his own internal musings.

***

When they arrived back to the castle and parted ways, Remus’ eyes briefly slipped shut at the contact of Hermione’s soft lips on his cheek. She smelled like rose oil and oranges, a scent that for some reason instantly soothed him and made him feel as though he had found a new home. It almost scared him how easily he had become comfortable around her.

Remus went back up to his dorm on some sort of a cloud, James in a similar state after Lily had allowed him to hold her hand on the way back from Hogsmeade. Sirius rolled his eyes at the sight of his friends, chuckling as he flopped back on the bed.

“You two seriously need to get laid.” He muttered and rolled his eyes playfully, earning a half exasperated glare from the werewolf.

Remus lay down on his bed, closing his eyes and breathing out. He made a little promise to himself as he lay there, guiding himself to sleep with slow counted breaths and individually relaxing each part of his body.

He was going to find out who Hermione Granger really was and what she was hiding.

***

Another month passed by and the cold of a November in Scotland settled over the school grounds. October 29th had brought upon another rise of the full moon and just like before Remus woke to Hermione dabbing medicated creams on his scratches and bites with a calm practiced expression on her face.

They interacted differently since Hogsmeade. They were friendlier, even perhaps a little flirty around each other but it was as if they were circling one another. Neither of them were making any sort of move to change things from how they currently were.

The marauders map was still missing in action. No matter what they did, the four boys could not locate it. This brought on a bit of bickering that was quickly smoothed out, though it was disheartening in a way. That had been the first truly brilliant thing they had managed to create as a group and had been a prized possession of theirs. They could always try to recreate it, but it just wouldn’t have been the same.

Meanwhile, Hermione spent every spare moment she had within the confines of the library, pouring over tomes nearly bigger than her head at times as the dark circles beneath her eyes grew. She had made a list of the horcruxes and where they had been in her time, but obviously the locations were bound to be different at this point in time.  She would try the available locations to see of course, but if they were not there then she would have to repeat the locating process of them all over again. Except this time she wouldn’t have Harry and Ron to help her with that, and the stress was definitely getting to her.

The morning of November 17th she sat in the Great Hall, munching on a piece of toast as she ran over her current plan as of this point in time. This wasn’t really a plan at all. But she knew she couldn’t do this alone. She needed help, and as she couldn’t go to Dumbledore she knew it was time to finally stop being stubborn and admit the truth. And that made her feel physically sick to her stomach, the thought of possibly losing the friends she’d made here. Plus, letting them know the truth meant that they would also be in danger and she hated the thought that she would be the one putting them at risk.

Hermione spent another week rehearsing exactly how she’d go about it, laying out every single detail, scrapping it, and repeat. This happened three times before she decided she was as ready as she would ever be. After dinner one night she led three of the four marauders and Lily to the room of requirement. All four were confused but followed her nonetheless, exchanging confused glances behind her back. Hermione breathed out and pictured what she wanted within her mind, hearing surprised gasps from behind her when the door suddenly appeared. When she stepped inside she swallowed at the sight of it.

It was the way the room had looked during the days of the DA and Hermione had to silently inhale a shaky breath to compose herself. The four people she’d brought with her glanced around. “Why isn’t Peter here?” Sirius asked, looking suspiciously at the curly haired witch as he stepped inside the room. The door swung shut gently behind him and Hermione turned to face them, hands trembling as she prepared herself for this. “That will all be explained.” She withdrew a phial of Veritaserum she’d knicked from Slughorn’s supply cupboard.

“I have something to tell you. Something you may think is unbelievable, something that may make you question a lot of things. But I need to get it off my chest.”


End file.
